How to Declutter Your Home

What is the Importance of Decluttering Your Home?

Clutter builds up before you are even aware of it, even when you try so hard to keep your place clean. A little bit of this, a little bit of that, before you know it, the little bits have turned into a pile or 2 then more. Getting rid of the accumulated clutter will take up a lot of time, but it's going to be worth it.

Decluttering reduces the accumulation of dust, mold, and mildew that may trigger asthma and other allergies, and also prevent pests like ants, flies, mosquitoes, bugs, cockroaches, etc. from coming in and spreading all over your house, bringing virus or bacteria then disease. It is also easier and more convenient to make healthy meals in an organized kitchen. Your quality of sleep will also improve and stay well in a tidy bedroom. So, decluttering is good and necessary, not only for your body but your mind and spirit too!

Decluttering your home is also important for people who are considering to sell their house. Since the objective is to sell the property, it really helps if the buyers can visualize the property as their own. That’s why it is essential to create a clean, stress-free environment before the home staging process.

1. Keeps your home cleaner

‘Cleaner’ doesn't mean your house is left with less stuff because you disposed of them, not necessarily. This means cleaner from dust build-up. A lot of things mean a lot of surfaces for dust, more often than not, allergens to land on and build up. Their presence will affect the air hygiene of your home and your health, negatively. Thus, decluttering is important to keep your body healthy.

2. It is Important for your self-care

You come home and look around all the rooms then realize you've gotten a lot of things, the whole house is one cluttered space! You decide to clear your spaces and clean up, one cluttered room after another. But there's just a lot even in one room alone, so much that you feel overwhelmed and you end up not doing any cleaning at all. The longer you put it off, the more stuff you accumulate and it becomes a vicious cycle. It is going to cause you anxiety and stress that you can do very well without. Decluttering will clear your house and clear your mind as well!

3. It gives you a feeling of control

The results of decluttering can and do have a visual impact on your mind, relieving you of the anxiety and stress of when there was clutter and more clutter in your house. Your home is your haven and refuge, a place for you to relax and recharge. A tidier, neater home makes for a more relaxed mind. Decluttering thus gives you the feeling of control, over your house, over your peace of mind, and over your health and that is a wonderful feeling!

4. It can help other people

Decluttering is good not just for you, it will turn out good for others as well! One of the common decluttering tips is to sort out stuff to keep, dispose of, donate or give away. And it's not just clothes. With all the tragedies and calamities not just nationwide but worldwide, so many can benefit from your decluttering efforts. From household items and decorations to repair-able appliances, you can make more than one person or one family happy without having to pay for it, or pay a lot for it.

There could be other reasons and advantages to decluttering that you'll get to realize along the way, these are just the most common and important. It's understandable for you to find it difficult and unable to do it by yourself. It's okay to seek professional help on how to declutter your home.

Essential Decluttering Tips for your home

1. Adapt organization in your Life

To get organized, the first thing and must-do is to make a decluttering checklist of all your items, that is your first organized space and will help you save time. It is called the golden rule of organizing for the inventory to conform to storage containers. Aim for empty shelf space and drawer space. Then go through each room, and go vertical - start with the floors, then go to surfaces, then drawers, closets, etc.

Work decluttering into your daily routine. Make a list, take before/after photos

Decluttering your home is going to take more than a few hours, maybe a few weeks, at least. To avoid clutter and work-to-do building up, you can start incorporating decluttering into your usual routines. Decluttering is a process, some steps of which can be done on a regular basis. When you make your decluttering checklist, you can categorize your inventory into broken items (or things that you will get rid of), seasonal decorations, sports equipment, remote controls, etc. You could purchase organization systems from any office supply shop or home furnishings store. There you could get drawer dividers, storage bags, and plastic bins (one of which should be the recycling bin) and label them. Or buy already labeled bins.

Then before you get the stuff that is, to you, causing the clutter problem, take before and after photos, room by room, and don't forget the laundry room or even the entertainment center, if you have one.

Allocate Decluttering Time - have a decluttering area

Setting decluttering into your regular timetable would be more effective if you do it at a fixed time. Set aside an easily accessible area to be your decluttering area, as well.

Divide and conquer the mess - get donation-recycle-rubbish-sell bags ready

You have now purchased storage containers for your decluttering, boxes, and bags. Label each according to how you will decide on them - for donation, to keep and recycle, to get rid of.

2. Storage space/room

Make space by decluttering storage areas first

The next decluttering tip is to create zones for decluttering. The room where you store items should be the first to be cleared of space, vertical space, and wall space.

Create Zones. Go Vertical

You could improve and systematize your storage system by creating zones. You can also go vertical, i.e., creating storage spaces with shelves instead of storage boxes. That could be a better way to neatly organize your stuff.

Interesting decluttering tips include hanging some hooks on your wall space, for easily accessible, frequently used things like cleaning supplies. Wall hooks now come in various colors and styles and designs.

3. Living rooms and family rooms

You have to be honest, practical, and firm with yourself about the things that you really need and don't need, including pieces of furniture.

Your living room is a place to entertain your guests comfortably. For many families, the living room is also the family room where everyone hangs out together, whether having a joint activity or each doing his or her thing. The living room is like a private space to share time and experiences with your nearest and dearest.

Most of your activities when you're at home happen there, and so the living-cum-family room would then end up as the dump for any and all odds and ends of daily living. Sometimes, it's also a room where interior design attempts are done, which eventually result in clutter instead of that hoped-for cozy ambience.

Here are some easy decluttering tips for what things to keep and not keep in your living/family room.

Too many cushions/throw pillows

Colorful cushions in pretty designs look attractive and give a happy, cheerful vibe, yes. Impractical, though, when you will have to move them someplace else before you can actually sit.

• Heaps of papers and paperwork. Kids do homework, adults bring home some work from the office, and family time is "work" time while watching a film or a game. But, those piles are constant visual reminders of work undone and yet-to-be-done. Rather make a "command station" where you have an inbox for things to-be-done, outgoing for completed work, and action/in-progress. Make a rule not to touch any paper unless it will be worked on and completed.

• Exercise Equipment. A treadmill, rowing machine, etc., unless you or any family member uses it daily, has no business in the living room. It's just an eyesore!

• Too many objects on display. Fine, your sentimental memorabilia deserve to be seen and cherished, as far as you're concerned. Or, you've spent tons of money on collectibles and other really expensive decorative items you can't help but want to show off. Besides causing visual clutter that could lead to stress, cleaning the shelves or tops where those items are would be much harder!

• Toys and Kids Stuff. Aside from posing accident risks when someone steps on them and slips, and disturbing the "relaxing mode" by sudden kiddie tunes mistakenly pressed 'play,' these are also eyesores, regardless of how colorful and attractive and cute they look. Instead, assign labeled storage bins per child, or per toy category and teach your kids to "pack away" every after playtime. If they have a toy chest or drawers in their bedrooms, teach them to put their toys back after playing.

• Bean bags. These have no place in a living room even if it doubles up as a family room. Bean bags are quite hard to blend with other furniture. When they're worn out, they also look 'tired.' These better belong in bedrooms or playrooms.

• Stacks of ironing. You multitask, watching TV or keeping an eye on your kids at play or doing homework. Or ironing. But these piles of clothing are also reminders of things undone and thus, could be stressful. If you don't have a laundry room, consider boxes and baskets of differing sizes on top of each other unobtrusively in a corner. That would look organized and much neater.

Is there any room available to store your table linens? Pinsky advises a restaurant to start a food-themed station. It's perfect to have a credenza or cabinet to store your food and drinks and all the stuff you need to prepare and eat for dinner or for parties. The best way to keep your stuff where you need it is by storing things where necessary so everything is accessible to you by the time of dinner. "

4. Dining Room

For keeping your table linens, and other accessories you need to prepare for dinner or parties, consider a sideboard on one side of your dining room, instead of a linen closet. You'll be able to keep them clean and ready to use at any time, and, more importantly, easy to access during dinner or mealtime.

Create Dining Stations

If you enjoy giving parties or just having friends and family for meals often, you can group drinks, desserts, salads, plates, glasses, and bowls in particular places around your dining room or on the top of your sideboards.

5. Bedrooms

A tidy room makes for a tidy mind. Your bedroom is your very own personal haven, where you rest and recharge. It's not enough to make it clean. It should also be free of clutter, so when you call it a day, you really let go of everything that disturbs you and lay your mind and body to rest and wake up ready to meet a new day.

1. Sort your Things and prepare to declutter. Do the same here as in the other rooms of your house. Keep-Donate-Get rid of-Put in storage. Label each box or basket or bin.

2. Address and organize your closet and drawers. Be firm in deciding on their category. Like clothes that don't fit anymore or have not been worn for more than a year must go. Those in good condition can be given away or donated to charity.
   Keep the same clothes, like short-sleeved, sleeveless, skirts, pants, long dresses, etc. together. This organization of clothes makes it easy for you to decide on your OOTD. Don't overlook or ignore your underwear and socks drawers. Unpaired socks or with holes or torn, plus underwear with broken snaps or just worn out should all be rid of. This should be done with shoes, too. Shoes that are overly worn-out, seldom or never been worn at all, should go to donation or disposal. Get a shoe rack or a storage box and keep only the shoes you use.
   Develop the habit of laying out your clothes for the next day the night before. It will make a lot of difference in your start of each morning.

3. Refresh your nightstand/bedside table. Anything there is the last thing you see at night and the first thing you see when you open your eyes in the morning. Here, "tidy place tidy mind" really comes into play. The quality of your sleep gets affected by the contents of your bedside table. Ideally, it should have only a dim lamp, an alarm clock (not your mobile phone, this should be far from your bed for the evening), a book and a glass of water. If you have other items you need to have on your nightstand, choose a piece that has shelves or drawers. If you want to decorate your table, like a photo frame or candle holder, choose items in the same color palette so the overall look won't be chaotic.

Remove unnecessary accessories, furniture, and broken items.

You don't need too many pillows and cushions on your bed, they'll just end up on the floor. Go through the other items that you don't use or are broken, which can be given away or disposed of. Take out any pieces of furniture that you don't use or really need. That will free up your floor space and will result in making your room look more comfortable and relaxing.

6. Kitchen

The kitchen is the heart of the home, as is often said. It is also where your food is prepared. Proper handling and storage of raw food, ingredients, and even baking supplies, including equipment and utensils, the kitchen table or worktops, and chopping boards, is not only important but essential to keep your food safe from contamination or spread of bacteria.

Aside from keeping your kitchen clean and sanitized, organization is important, especially in storage. It will save you time in planning the shopping list and the meals, cooking, and cleaning. It is also much easier to clean when things are in particular places.

1. Divide the room into zones like everyday, cooking, pantry/storage, specialty, under-the-sink, etc. Rearrange your kitchen around your activities.

2. In your everyday zone, put things that you use regularly. If your family is a tea and/or coffee drinker, make a tea station and put cups and mugs, tea bags, kettle, teapot/French press, teaspoons, etc. together.

3. Don't keep mugs, plates, spoons, etc. more than you actually use, or need. Actually, the utensils you will need are what you and your family need every day for mealtime and maybe a couple of spares in case you'll have surprise visitors or breakage. If you're going to have a party, you can borrow or get disposable ones.

Edit your Pantry

Arrange your food stocks so that you can literally see what you have and don't have - you won't be duplicating what you have and save money. It is not difficult to arrange the contents that the labels are facing you. That makes things convenient.
For other items, you can group them together in baskets. Baskets make practical and good containers for pasta, rice, and spices. You can easily pick them out of the basket instead of having them spray all over you as you get them, or instead of rummaging through your spice collection in annoyance, you can just lift the basket from the shelf and one scan can make you locate which you will use that time.

7. Think Decluttering in Seasons

Some of your clutter may be just things that you use regularly but only once a year, like clothing. decorations and accessories, linens, and crockery, that are seasonal.

Don't mix these items with weekly or monthly-used things when you store them. Christmas or special occasion decorations, linens, and dining utensils should be labeled and stored separately, along with seasonal clothing (winter clothes and shoes, etc.) in your storage area - attic or garage. You only use them once a year so they don't have to be easily accessible.

Streamline and Strategize

Hiring a professional organizer is an investment because it is a considerable sum you will have to shell out. It has been discussed above that the process of decluttering takes more than hours or weeks or even months! This is the time you will have to be working together, but then you will eventually realize that the value of that investment is definitely worth what you put in it!

Professional organizers deal with those who just need someone to put an order in their lives, i.e., in their homes, amidst their hectic, filled schedules.

For homeowners, professional organizers plan and reorganize the spaces of the home (or could be just one or two rooms in it), improve or coach in space and time management, or even setting goals. They will guide you and help you identify and decide what to keep, store or reuse and dispose of. They will then, in most cases, facilitate your decision - donation, sale, or disposal of items you will let go of.

Conclusion

Letting go is always difficult. Sad, even, for some people. But you will have to, sooner or later. And, as you have read the above, you will have to let go of a few or many things, for your physical and even mental health. If you are a real estate agent who are dealing with a house for sale that needs decluttering, work on the house and remove as much visual clutter as much as possible—before the open house.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Where do I start decluttering my house?

  If you're going to do it yourself, you should do it room by room, starting with the kitchen or family room, whichever is the most high-traffic area. Then do the whole process of decluttering by deciding whether to donate clothes and other stuff, recycle and keep, or simply get rid of.

• How long does it take to declutter a house?

  Surveys have reported an average of 208 hours in a year, at least, for household decluttering. That's around 1 year and 3 months. There are some who take longer, up to 2 years.

• Should I clean or declutter first?

  Declutter before cleaning. It is easier and more systematic to organize with more space available and clean after you are done decluttering.

• Why can't I throw anything away?

  Traditionally, you would have been called a pack rat, defined as one who collects and keeps things that they do not need. In recent decades, it has been called a disorder, a hoarding disorder. People with a hoarding disorder buy so many things but are psychologically unable to get rid of things.

  It is a different matter for people who don't get rid of things because they feel bad about things they spent money on, or those that have sentimental value, and those items are usually just stored neatly in labeled bins or a file drawer.

• When should I declutter?

  When you're moving to a new home and you'd like to "start fresh," or you're moving to a smaller space, that is, downsizing your lifestyle. You're either getting married or moving in with your significant other. You might have a family member moving in with you. These are the common reasons why people, after a long time or even never, wish to declutter and search for decluttering tips.

• How do you declutter without feeling guilty?

  Many people tend to feel guilty about the decluttering process, especially the sorting, because of the sentimental value attached to their things. Letting go seems to be an internal struggle, but it doesn't have to be cold turkey. You can just put these tokens precious to you away, for a while. That will at least decrease your visual clutter.